Author: José R. Pineda got his Ph.D. from University of Barcelona in 2006. Since 2007 he has worked for Institut Curie and The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Currently, he is a researcher of the UPV/EHU. He investigates the role of stem cells in physiologic and pathologic conditions. In a previous work Jenny […]
Author: José R. Pineda got his Ph.D. from University of Barcelona in 2006. Since 2007 he has worked for Institut Curie and The French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission. Currently he is a researcher of the UPV/EHU. He investigates the role of stem cells in physiologic and pathologic conditions. Neurogenesis is a process in […]
Brain cells communicate through neurotransmitters like glutamate or dopamine, the substances we got used to reading about when learning about brain function. However, it seems this is not the only way neurons can communicate. A new study suggests that certain proteins can act as brain messengers in the brain. Previously, only pathological proteins like tau […]
A new type of cell has been identified in the heart of several organisms, from the zebrafish to mouse and human hearts. This new type of cell, called “nexus-glia” by its discoverers, as it forms a net around the heart, not only appears to possess some characteristics from these cells, but it is also related […]
Since humans are not very good at predicting the future, even if the help of a magic ball, scientists have developed a new system based on artificial intelligence to help us predict the future risk of suffering from Alzheimer’s disease by analysing certain parameters in brain scans. The research, recently published in the journal Diagnostics […]
The brain plays an essential role in how people navigate the world by generating both thought and behavior. Despite being one of the most vital organs of life, it takes up only 2% of human body volume. How can something so small perform such complex tasks? Luckily, modern tools like brain mapping have allowed neuroscientists […]
At a synapse, the plasma membrane of the neuron transmitting the information (the presynaptic neuron) is in close proximity to the membrane of the target cell (postsynaptic) and the two are separated by a space known as the synaptic cleft. Both the presynaptic and postsynaptic sites contain extensive assemblies of molecular machinery that link the […]
It is said that music can appease the beasts, and every parent in the world has heard of the –unproven– Mozart effect for producing smarter babies, however, what not everyone knows is that one of his compositions, the Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major, K. 448, can actually decrease the epileptic activity in the […]
It happens often. We see someone who reminds us of someone else we know, or we have met, but we cannot remember where, only the face is familiar. Whether there was a single cell in the brain responsible for familiar face recognition was a long-standing question in neuroscience. Now, it seems that those cells, which […]
If you’re like me and spent hours of your day sitting at a desk typing on a keyboard, I am sure you have imagined how cool it’d be to just have your thoughts translated into typed words just like that. Well, new research on brain implants recently published in the journal Nature has shown that […]